Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

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Except for some single seats that are expected to be sold soon, the Winter Classic is sold out, according to organizers.

Olympia Entertainment president and CEO Tom Wilson made the announcement Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena, along with officials from the NHL who were in town to provide more details on the Winter Classic and the accompanying Hockeytown Winter Festival.

The Red Wings will play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Winter Classic in front of more than 107,000 at 1 p.m. Jan. 1 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

Wilson also said that 120,000 tickets out of about 180,000 total available have been sold for the games that will make up the Hockeytown Winter Festival at Comerica Park.

Those games include the Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 27-28), an Ontario Hockey League doubleheader (Dec. 29), the Grand Rapids Griffins vs. the Toronto Marlies (Dec. 30) and the Alumni Showdown games (Dec. 31).

About 42,000 tickets have been sold for the GLI games, 30,000 for the OHL and 30,000 for the alumni games. An estimated 10,000 tickets remain for the alumni games. (There is also an AHL doubleheader.)

“It’s going to be a two-week celebration of hockey that will culminate with the biggest game ever,” Wilson said.

Don Renzulli, executive vice president of events for the NHL, said parking will cost between $50 and $60 around Michigan Stadium. Parking at nearby Ann Arbor Pioneer High School will be $60.

The NHL plans to offer a shuttle service for $4 that will service downtown parking lots as well as Briarwood Mall.

Renzulli said a plan to clear snow and parking were two of the biggest issues that were discussed in organizing the event.

Here are some other interesting facts revealed during the meeting.

■According to Wilson, “30-35% of the people coming to town will be Canadian. From an economic impact standpoint, how that’s going to impact our hotels and restaurants and everything else in the city, it’s going to make a huge, huge difference for us.”

■The NHL will begin building the rink Dec. 2 at Michigan Stadium and will work through Dec. 23. After a break, they will resume work Dec. 26 and work through the completion of the event. About 60 local laborers will be used daily to help build the ice rink.

■The Wings and Leafs will practice on Dec. 31. Each team will have two hours to practice, bring their families out and take photos.

■ The NHL set up the seating so that half the stadium would ideally be decked in red and the other half in blue. Organizers admitted that the secondary market will end up being a factor in how things look once all of the fans are inside.

■The number sold to Red Wings season ticket-holders was about 2-for-1 compared to tickets sold to Maple Leafs season ticket-holders.

■Michigan Stadium security measures will be in place for the event and organizers want to stress that no bags or purses will be allowed in the stadium. Spreading the word is a big concern, considering about 35,000 Canadians are expected to attend the event and might be unaware of that policy.